When there is a readily available stat for QB Pressures on CFBstats, I will look at that as well. But right now we only have sacks to gauge "getting to the QB"
What Position Group Is The Most Concerning?
- Thread starter BugsAreQualityProtein
- Start date
No offense to HH but what does it say if he becomes our most productive TE this year? I guess you could look at it a number of ways.
Since when has loading up with players from the portal consistently made a difference? I'm talking about making a difference with consistent production, not preseason hype.
I think our TE's will be better. Can't really get much worse in blocking (especially two seasons ago) and the participation in the passing game should be easy to match. Lindenmeyer will be a good starter. I haven't heard much about Markway, but I'm hoping that he can backup Lindenmeyer as an inline TE. Haarberg will be a great move TE. Carter Nelson has missed a lot of time this off season but he should be healthy enough to play & work his way into at least a backup role behind HH. I bet Bonner can help out there as well.
Two wildcards- If Rhule is serious about playing guys right away in today's instant transfer culture, then they need to figure out a way to get Jeremiah Jones on the field. That kid is already big enough to play and be quite a weapon in that move TE spot. Another interesting guy is a walk-on- Connor Schutt. 6' 6", 215. A 45' triple jumper and 6' 4" high jumper. High flyer on the basketball court and played QB in high school. If he's not a good understudy to Haarberg, I'm not sure who is. But I don't even know if he's still on the team at this point.
Are you being serious? NU has been completely incompetent when it comes to assessing and developing talent. For years now NU has had mostly transfers starting because the guys they recruit are duds.
Yes. NU has been just as incompetent when it comes to assessing portal transfers, especially when you consider that it's supposed to be easier to know what you are getting.
Thinking we will be better is a pretty big jump in the cool aide. Is it possible? Sure. But we have almost zero experience at the position in the BIG 10. We have 1 real blocker in LL. The rest is all hope and prove it time.
As a whole, the QB position might be a concern. Does Dylan make that 2nd year jump? Does the scheme fit him better? Who is up next if he gets hurt? I think the kicker is also a bit of a question mark.
One thing I’ll say is I don’t imagine Dana’s offense will feature much inline blocking TE’s. Mostly receiving TE’s who occasionally perimeter block like receivers. As to how that will affect the offense in the red zone remains to be seen.
Answering slightly different questions than OP.
Greatest improvement over last year.
Unit: Special Teams
Position group: OL
Biggest regress from last year.
Unit: Defense
Position group: DL
I was tempted to say WR over OL, but at this moment I believe a little more in the OL transfers than the WR transfers. I do believe in the WR coaching upgrade, but I don’t expect miracles with the returning players.
Greatest improvement over last year.
Unit: Special Teams
Position group: OL
Biggest regress from last year.
Unit: Defense
Position group: DL
I was tempted to say WR over OL, but at this moment I believe a little more in the OL transfers than the WR transfers. I do believe in the WR coaching upgrade, but I don’t expect miracles with the returning players.
You may be right, but I feel like you may be overrating last year's tight ends. I love the grit Fidone showed, but he was not drafted based on his performance at NU. He was drafted based on his athletic testing and the perception of untapped potential based on his five star rated out of HS, Rhule's recommendation and the injuries that held him back. In my mind, Boerkircher and Fidone's production is very replaceable.
Well last year means zero to the guys going to play this year. Our TE's have underperformed for years for many reasons.
I agree. That's why I'm hopeful for improvement. Low bar.
We do have talent on the defensive line, it is just unproven. The hope is that they will be just as good as last year and maybe even better in the long run. Ty and Nash were great, but they were not All Americans. Heck, they weren't even all B1G. They can be replaced. Experience is what is lacking now. Hopefully, by the time the Michigan game comes to town the defensive line will have started to gel. The only reason I think this is the position group most to worry about is not because of a doubt about latent talent. It is based rather on the fact that a team can live with a weakness at Tight End, but it cannot be weak on either line and hope to be good. And our defensive line is still unproven.
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RVP might end up being one of the best dudes in the Big 10. He was already better than the Polar Bear and I expect big things from him this year.
We have absolutely no idea what the production from the TE room will be. In 2024 TE caught I believe 49 passes , 18 of the 49 catches came with Holgorsen running the show. That equates to an increase from 3.44 receptions per game from the TE position with Satt to 4.5 receptions per game under Holgorsen. FWIW. Keeping that same 4.5 rpg, that would be 58 or 59 receptions for 13 games.
